Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-01-03
HOME AND ABROAD.
URGENT NEED OF AID FOR S starry.
ING TEXANS.
Awful Catastrophe in India-The
Citrus Fair at Chicago
The Tottering Knights.
ESPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE RECORD usIos.i
JURY FIXING.
How Two Men Were Convicted of Murde
in New York.

How Two Men Were Convicted of Murder
in New York.
New YORK, January 2d.-STwo appa-
rently innocent men walked out of the
State Prison at Sing Sing yesterday, after a
confinement of nearly ten years, pardoned
and returned to the rights of citizenship.
They were William Poole and Joseph Font,
who were convicted of murder in the sec
ond degree IN the Court of General Sessions
in this city November II, 1877, and were
sentenced by Recorder Hackett to i'm
prisonment for life for the supposed MUIR
der of Captain John RYAN at No. Sc Leroy
street Captain Ryan was found at 4:30
o'clock on Sunday morning, April 80, 1877,
in front of his own door step dead, with a
wound in the back of his head, which had
resulted from either blow or fall. Officer
Connor had seen him in an intoxicated con-
dition at 2 o'clock, and it was about
o'clock when three young fellows who bore
bad repstations in the neighborhood passed
along 1ermine street and spoke to officer
Scaulan: They were William Poole,
Joseph Font and James keenan,. They
had been drinking, and were ordered to
disperse by the next policeman they met.
The next day policeman John w. Noble,
to whom they had given no end of trouble,
arrested all three They denied all knowl-
edge of the crime, but they were all in
dicted on a conversation which officer
Mobiles swore he copied in his notebook
when secreted in cell adjoining that of
Poole and Font, and principally on his
evidence they were convicted. For some
unknown reason Keenan, was discharged.
Poole and Font were confined in the Tombs
from November II, 1875 to March 10, 1880,
when they were transferred to Sing Sing.
Font was lame fellow of % years, who
had been in a type foundry, while Poole
was an oyster-opener, married, and 90 years
old.
NOTHING TO WARRANT THEIR CONVICTION.
In 1884, w. F. Shanks, formerly the city
editor of the Tribune, while investigating
the subject of Jury fixing" came across
this case. He discovered that Henry Hasle-
ton, piano-maker of University place
and j. w. Hawley, Secretary of the United
States Illuminating Company, whose names
were among the conyicting jury, had never
been on the Jury, and they made affidayits
that they had never heard of the case, and
never had subpenas served upon them
Courthouse loafers had answered to their
names and served on the jury. Then Cap
| tain James Kennedy, of the Ninth Precinct
made a death-bed confession that officer
Noble, in his best belief, had committed
perjury in testifying to the facts that he
did on the trial. Officer Noble, after the
lapse of years, was found willing to sign an
affidavit that the station-house conversa-
ton between Poole and Font could have
had reference to any scrape and not neces,
sarily mean Ryan's murder but upon con.
sulting with his lawyer backed out. These
facts were laid before Governor Cleveland
and he promised to interfere. The case was
| turned over to Governor Hill, and now
after couple of years of investigation, the
pardons of the two men have been signed